


Hope is the Greatest Christmas Gift

by pandorabox82



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 12 Days of Ficmas, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28920855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandorabox82/pseuds/pandorabox82
Summary: Petunia had expected to spend that Christmas alone. That is, until an unwelcome face from her past showed up on her doorstep....
Kudos: 4





	Hope is the Greatest Christmas Gift

This was going to be her first Christmas without Vernon, and Petunia wasn't certain exactly how she felt about that fact. She knew that she should be mourning his passing, but there was something that she just didn't miss about his absence from their lives. Not that Dudley would be celebrating the holiday season with her, he had informed her that he would be spending Christmas with his girlfriend's family. That wasn't a complete shock, since he had been growing increasingly distant ever since Harry had returned to their previous house one last time before they had been moved for their protection.

That had been a difficult adjustment to make, but Petunia had taken it all in stride, since there was nothing else that she could do. While she was a proud woman, she also fully understood that her actions, from the moment that Lily had chosen that world over her, had led to the place she was currently in. But she also knew that she was in no position to change at this stage in her life. Her behaviour patterns were set, and this was going to be her life until the day she died. She was content, so much as resigned to the fact that some things could never change, no matter how hard someone tried to correct their course.

Still, Petunia felt like she had to do something for the holiday, since it was the damn season after all, and there hadn't been a year yet where she hadn't done something for the season. Letting out a deep sigh, she finished stringing the garland around the small tree that she had purchased before picking up the light string and winding it around the tree. After plugging it in, Petunia allowed a soft smile to spread across her lips. There was something pretty about the way it looked like that, simple and plain, but there were a few baubles that she wanted to go on it, since they held sentimental value, like Dudley's first Christmas ornament, and the one she had held on to from Lily's childhood. Petunia had lied and told Vernon that they were hers, and he had bought that line, since it wasn't something that truly mattered to him. A part of her wondered if she should have given Harry the ornaments, but she knew that he would never understand that they were a gift freely given, and always look on them as her trying to keep him in her life.

Shaking her head a little, Petunia slowly hung up each ornament, trying to find the perfect branch for it before moving on to the next one. Eventually, she reached the last one, pursing her lips when she saw that it was from Lily's first Christmas, and she clenched her free hand into a tight fist as she placed the ornament next to the star atop the tree. Blinking back unwanted tears, she drifted over to window to look out at the garden, finding a small gasp catching in her throat as she stared at the sight in front of her. "That is not possible," she whispered before roughly rubbing at her eyes, hoping that when she looked again, there would be a different sight there. Instead, there were now two impossibilities standing in her garden, and she shook her head slowly as she tried to comprehend the fact that there were a pair of reindeer in her garden.

"If Lily were still alive, I could blame this on her, but she's not, and no one from that world is going to come visit me. They don't even know that I'm alive," she muttered bitterly as she turned from the window and made her way into the kitchen, needing a spot of tea to warm her bones from the sudden chill that had settled over her. "Magic doesn't exist for me any longer."

Turning on the electric kettle, Petunia went over to the cupboard and pulled out a mug and a box of Earl Grey teabags, setting both on the table before going over to the refrigerator and pulling out the milk. Then it was just to sit and wait while the water warmed, trying to think about how she would spend the next few days. She didn't have to think very long before there was a knock at her front door, and Petunia frowned deeply as she rose to her feet and slowly made her way there, knowing that there was no one who should be visiting.

Her frown deepened when she saw an unkempt man standing on her stoop, looking furtively around. She was just about to step away from the door and ring for the police when the man's head lifted, and Petunia felt like all the breath had been stolen from her lungs. Wrenching the door open, she shot her hand out and closed it around his wrist, pulling him inside the house so that she could slam the door closed once more, praying that none of her neighbours had seen him. "What are you doing here?" she hissed as she pushed him into the kitchen, not really giving him the opportunity to answer before she started another question. "And how did you find me? I was supposed to be protected from your world by whatever blood covenant my sister created when she sacrificed herself for her son."

"I'm assuming that ended the moment that Harry defeated Riddle. I couldn't say for certain, since Dumbledore is dead and unable to answer any questions that we both might have about the things that he was keeping from us. And I didn't exactly choose to come here, I was running from…something, and the only thought in my mind as I apparated was to find somewhere safe. It is highly ironic that magic chose to send me here, to you."

That caused her to take a good look at him, and she frowned when she noticed that he was incredibly thin, like he had been on the run for some time. "Who's after you?" she asked as she automatically grabbed another mug from the cupboard, setting it down in front of him before pouring hot water into both their mugs and sliding the box of teabags towards him after grabbing out her own, letting it soak in the water as she went over to the refrigerator and grabbed the cake she had baked earlier in the week, setting it down in front of him before getting plates and forks.

"You don't need to feed me."

"It's habit, and it would be bad manners if you refused. And you still haven't answered my question. Who is after you?"

He sighed as he whipped out his wand, and Petunia winced a little as she watched him cut two slices of the cake before settling them onto the plates. "I know, you still hate magic, but it's as ingrained in me as politeness is in you. And the final dregs of Riddle's cesspool of followers have been tracking down all the people that betrayed them during the course of the war. And I have the highest bounty on my head, since I was the one who ensured that Riddle wouldn't get access to the Elder Wand. I was a mole for years, passing on intel, and once that became well known amongst certain factions, well, I've been on the run since I was found out to still be alive. I had thought that I had been careful enough, but somehow I was found out."

She nodded as she picked up her fork and began to flake a bite off the dessert. "All right, now that I know that, I have to ask again, am I safe with you here?"

Severus shrugged as he picked at his slice, not meeting her eye, which almost told her everything that she needed to know in that moment. "I want to say yes, since I wanted to be somewhere safe, but I can't say for certain. If they do show up on your door, I'll protect you as best as I can. After all, despite all your flaws, you're still Lily's sister."

Letting out a humph, she angrily ate her cake, finding it tasted of sawdust and ash, rather than the delicious confection she had created to console herself over the fact that Dudley would be gone that Christmas. This was certainly not how she had planned to spend Christmas, with the man who had ganged up on her with Lily, who had tormented her in her youth, who had caused her to hate magic and the world that had torn Lily away from her. As those thoughts swam in her mind, Petunia began to cry, and she buried her chin in her chest as she tried to quietly get control of her emotions once more. She didn't want him to see her break down, after all. "Well, I'm glad to know that I still have some worth," she finally said bitterly as she pushed away from the table and dropped her plate in the sink. Then she grabbed hold of the counter and took a few deep breaths.

There was movement behind her, and she stiffened her spine as she felt him approach her. Severus's hand settled on her shoulder, the touch light, almost like how she imagined him to have touched Lily. Again, the thought of her sister brought forth unwanted tears, and she took a shuddering breath as she looked out the window to see the reindeer still in her garden. "Why are there reindeer in your garden?"

"I don't know, wouldn't that be more your territory?" she spat out as she turned around to look at him. Well, glare at him really. Except, he was looking at her oddly, and Petunia reached up to fluff her hair, a nervous habit that she had retained from her childhood. "Severus?"

"I forgot how you looked with dark hair." It wasn't exactly the truth, she could read that much in his eyes, and then his look changed again, as if he had read her thoughts, and her frown deepened a little as she turned back to the window to look at the reindeer once more. "Do you mind my using magic again?"

"Go ahead, I don't really care any longer."

He must have nodded, as she felt the air around her move a little. Moments later, she could feel the weird prickly sensation that had always followed Lily after she had performed a bit of magic. "Well, they are most definitely not magical, and were not drawn here by my appearance, so there's that for you."

"Thank you," she sniffed as she moved past him to grab the milk off the table and put it back in the refrigerator. "All right, what do you need now?"

"A place to lie low for a fortnight, maybe shorter? It all depends on if they come after me. I won't get in your way, I just need a place where I can sleep for a little while."

Petunia nodded as she took a seat at the table once more. She didn't know how she could refuse him, even though there was no love lost between them. "Fine. At least this means I won't be alone for Christmas." Before he could say anything, she picked up her tea and took a long sip before breathing deeply. "I am going to head upstairs and clean. You're free to do…whatever. Just don't get in my way."

Petunia left the kitchen, not sparing him a second glance as she made her way to the stairs and then up to the hall closet, pulling out the vacuum to hoover the floor of the guest room before starting a deep clean of her room, needing to keep herself busy so that she wouldn't think of the fact that Severus was in her house. She had just finished stripping the bed when she heard a commotion downstairs, and she dropped the bedding onto the floor as she scrambled for the closet, fearing the worst. Curling up in a corner of the closet, pulling her dresses around her so as to hide, Petunia struggled to not fall into a complete panic attack, knowing that wouldn't serve her any good if she were attacked.

The minutes passed by so slowly, and she heard no further disruption downstairs, but she still didn't get up, she didn't want to chance dying alone. Her breath burned in her lungs as she struggled to keep them quiet, to not draw attention to herself, and that breathing soon slowed when she heard creaking steps on the stairs. Every muscle in her body tensed as she waited for her death to come, for the intruder to find her cowering in the closet like the coward she was, that Lily had always known she was. Blinking only brought tears that rolled down her cheeks, and Petunia pursed her lips firmly together, not wanting to make a single sound. It seemed to take an eternity, but then the closet door was slowly sliding open, and she burrowed further into the corner in a desperate bid to escape the inevitable.

"Petunia, it's okay."

Her head shot up to look into Severus's face, and she saw the concern there. It was an expression he had never used with her, only Lily, but still there was something that comforted her about it in that moment, and she allowed him to help her to her feet before she threw her arms around his waist, needing someone, anyone, to hold onto in that moment. "I let my mind run away with fear." Her voice was shaking, and Petunia felt him nod a little as he brought her over to the bed, getting them to sit on the mattress.

"That would be my fault," he responded. Petunia nodded a little as she instinctively cuddled close to his chest, seeking out a comfort that she wasn't certain he would give her. He had never been a warm, soft, person, his father had seen to that, but she hoped that he would offer her succor for a few moments. "I should have called up as soon as I dropped the chair on the floor. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I'll be fine in a moment, you can go back to whatever you were doing," she said as she tried to sit up straight, to get control of her nerves.

"If that is what you truly wish, Petunia."

"What I wish is that I had made different choices in life. But I am who I am, and nothing can change that. Not even you showing up on my doorstep can shift the trajectory of my life." He frowned deeper, and she shrugged as rose to her feet, crouching down to pick up the bed linens. "Now, I need to start the laundry. Is there anything that you'd like washed?"

"Petunia."

"No. We were never people to talk about our issues. Were we? Why should it be any different years later? Hope and joy belong to those who can accept beauty in their lives and not destroy it." Lifting her chin, she stood up arrow straight and left the bedroom, close to tears again. "You'll be here for Christmas and the New Year, and then I'll be alone once more. That is just how life goes for those of us who never truly fit in, who slunk around in the shadows and were outshone by the people we loved most. You never saw me, Lily never saw you, and we were always destined to be sharp. If you'll excuse me."

Petunia went to leave the room, only to find the door closing in front of her face. Whirling around, she glared at him, scarcely believing that he had the unmitigated gall to use magic around her without asking first. "You were only overshadowed by your belief that Lily was better than you which caused you to build your wall. My father built my wall. We might never tear them down, but you can use yours to build the foundation of something more. There's still time for you, since no one is chasing after you. There's still room for your heart to soften. There's still time for hope, that greatest of Christmas gifts."

She snorted as she shook her head. "I never figured you to be a sentimentalist, Severus."

"Nearly dying will do that to a man. So will allowing a boy to take the memory of finding his mother that awful night to let him know the truth of what happened." Petunia screwed up her mouth into a tight pucker, watching the way his shoulders tightened, as if he hadn't liked revealing that much to her. "But you can also choose to remain the same. It's easy enough to do."

"That is very true. You can read my mind." He had the grace to look guilty. "Is that how you knew what I was thinking all those times when you ratted me out to Lily?"

"Yes. You were good practice for my future mind reading endeavors. You just never knew how to keep me out, just like your nephew." She blanched a little at the reference to Harry before nodding. "So, what will you choose? Hope or stagnation?"

Looking into his face, seeing the pale, drawn, look there, Petunia knew that there really was only one choice. "Hope. But if I choose hope, so do you. If I'm supposed to build a foundation to something new, I'm going to need another wall to brace it. Deal?" He nodded once, sharply, and she returned the gesture before pointing to the linens in her arms. "Now, do you have any laundry that needs done? Life doesn't wait for us, after all. I found that out after a year of waiting for my letter to Hogwarts." He nodded as he stripped off his robes, revealing a black sweater and slacks beneath. "I'll see you downstairs after you take a bath. You have the stench of fear rolling off your skin, and it is not pleasant."

He actually chuckled at her pronouncement and got to his feet, following her out the door. "That is one thing I've never forgotten."

"What?"

"How fastidious you are. And thank you for the offer, I prefer to smell clean as well." Before she could say anything more, he touched her shoulder lightly before heading over to the bathroom, most likely having located it from her memory. Rolling her eyes, Petunia headed downstairs and into the laundry room, wondering if she could truly choose hope this year.


End file.
